Chicago Tribune

Sure, they showed a soft spot for Derek Jeter, but across the board they did at least as good a job selecting players for the July 12 All-Star Game as did the players and managers, maybe better.

In the final round of balloting, fans took down four non-deserving vote leaders to elect the right guys. They rallied enough support to get Prince Fielder elected ahead of Albert Pujols as the National League first baseman, Jose Reyes ahead of Troy Tulowitzki as the NL shortstop, Matt Kemp ahead of Matt Holliday in the NL outfield and Alex Avila ahead of Russell Martin as the American League catcher.

CHICAGO -- Despite everything, Robert Adams considers himself to be an honest man.

Adams, 54, a hospital engineer from Arlington Heights, Ill., made the news last month for turning in a bag of money he said he found lying on the ground. He was praised as a paragon of integrity.

But this week, his story unraveled. After being confronted by FBI agents and Rolling Meadows, Ill., detectives, Adams admitted that he had found the cash inside a Walgreens store -- and that he had harbored thoughts of keeping it for himself.

CHICAGO -- As Chicago prepares to own its own casino, Mayor Rahm Emanuel won't find many examples of government-run gambling halls to study in this country.

But there's plenty to see in Canada, and it's not all covered in gold.

In Ontario, the nation's largest province, publicly owned casinos have pumped billions of dollars into government coffers over the years. But increased competition and a poor economy have left the four biggest casinos with flat or falling revenue and operating losses in recent years that total tens of millions of dollars.

The Windsor casino employed 5,000 people at its peak after opening in 1995, but good times have turned hard in the last decade. The payroll of the city's second-largest employer is down by about half, and its fate has become a political issue.

Forget Paul Maholm's 3-7 record. He has compiled a 3.12 earned-run average in 89 innings, holding opponents to 70 hits.

With limited options expected to become available on the trade market next month, Maholm is having the kind of season that could make him a prime target for teams looking to upgrade. After all, few teams sell players better than Maholm's Pirates.

 Women who report sexual violence on college campuses seldom see their accused attackers arrested and almost never see them convicted, according to a Chicago Tribune survey of several Midwestern universities.

The survey of six schools in Illinois and Indiana found that police investigated 171 reported sex crimes since fall 2005, with 12 resulting in arrests and four in convictions. Only one of the convictions stemmed from a student-on-student attack, the most common type of assault.

The rate of arrests and convictions is far below the average for rapes reported nationally.

The trend leaves untold number of college women feeling betrayed and vulnerable, believing that their allegations are not taken seriously. The Tribune's findings also raise fresh questions about the way college administrators and law enforcement officials handle the allegations, even as the Obama administration calls attention to the issue with a series of initiatives and investigations aimed at better protecting students from sex crimes.

CHICAGO -- Within weeks of arriving at St. Walter Catholic Church in Roselle, Ill., the Rev. John Regan began stealing from the collection plate to fund his gambling addiction.

He stashed checks in a private bank account and spent the money at casinos in Elgin and Joliet. He lost big, blowing $116,000 in less than a year at one of the riverboats, prosecutors say. By the time the Diocese of Joliet figured out what was going on, Regan, who last week pleaded guilty to theft, had taken nearly $300,000.

It's a striking case but not an unusual one, say addiction counselors, and it illustrates a problem they expect to grow if gambling expands in Illinois.

All parents have those moments when they believe they will never, ever, eat anywhere finer than McDonald's until their children head off to college. For me, that time came when my daughter was a very unruly, ketchup-splattered 18-month-old.

Yet, less than two years later, I found myself working as a restaurant reviewer. Dining out several times a week suddenly was the norm.

First thing I did? Draw up a roster of baby sitters. Second thing? Figure out what to do if Caroline came along. Sometimes I wanted her there -- she was my test child for family restaurants.